Of Birds and Hunters
by TheHouseKey
Summary: Rated just to be safe. The rollar coaster of leaving home has finally come to a halt, and Peter Parker is left scarred and in emotional turmoil. A best friend he thinks he loves doesn't help, and new problems arise as tempers flare, cruelty reaches new he
1. Jackie Salvani Was Just a Bit Weird

**Of Birds and Hunters  
**_The sequel to Severing Ties_

**Summary**: The rollar coaster of leaving home has finally come to a halt, and Peter Parker is left scarred and in emotional turmoil. A best friend he thinks he loves doesn't help, and new problems arise as tempers flare, cruelty reaches new heights, and a certain concept is proven wrong.

**Chapter 1:** Jackie Salvani Was Just a Bit Weird

It had been a month since Phoenix's containment. Peter didn't like admitting that he was still grieving over MJ. Jackie had understood, and didn't question.

Phoenix was kept in one of the secret rooms in Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Children. More than once, Scott went missing, only to be found in that room, gazing at Phoenix.

"It's not Jean, anymore," Xavier had told him.

"I know," Scott replied solemnly. It was then he thanked God for his visor, and no one could see him cry.

It was a month after Phoenix's containment that Scott noticed something odd. The shell around Phoenix had started to crack.

Someone, somewhere, was deep in the jungles of South America, learning from the many witchdoctors of potions and elixirs that would increase power and stamina. This person was named Aloysha Kravinov, and his aristocratic family wasn't quite so aristocratic any more. He crossed the wild jungles in search of something to restore his family's lost nobility, and had taken up hunting.

Eventually, Aloysha knew that the animals of the South American jungles were just _too_ easy. Remembering his life's experiences, he wondered what he could possibly hunt that would be a _challenge_.

His memory reached a time in New York. On one of his family's vacations, a few years ago, they stopped in New York for a spell. There, Aloysha had decided to take a walk by himself, something no one should do in New York if down dark alleys.

Surprised by a group of men who wanted to mug him, he backed himself into a corner, and was stuck. Then he saw, one by one, the men were being thrown off. He looked up and saw a red and blue figure.

"Are you all right?" the figure asked.

"Yes. Yes. Thank you very much," Aloysha managed. "Who are you?"

"Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." With that, Spider-Man had swung away on white ropes, and let out a "WAHOO!" as he almost jumped from rope to rope.

_Interesting. A man with the abilities of a spider. If I had _his_ head on my wall that would be a huge accomplishment,_ he told himself, nodding with satisfaction.

_But he's a human being_, another voice argued. _That would be cold-blooded murder._

_No, he's not. No human being can spin webs. I've been murdering animals all this time. That's all he is. Another animal._

As he devoured potion after potion, his mind started warping. _What are these things flying at me?_ His axes were out in a flash, trying to get the things away from him. He didn't realize that they were only trees. He started to see things that weren't really there.

Now, everywhere Aloysha looked, there was the bug boy. He turned around, and staring him straight in the face were those white, pointed eyes. If he went anywhere, he felt the wall-crawler following him. Nerves on fire already from the many elixirs he consumed, he jumped at the slightest movement.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" he screamed into the jungle.

"I will, if you find me," his vision laughed at him.

That's when Aloysha started hacking away at anything that moved. "GO AWAY!" he roared.

"Come, find me. Destroy me, and I'll leave you in peace."

Peter Parker jerked awake, bathed in sweat. His breathing was labored, and his eyes were frantically looking for an intruder in the hotel room. He looked to the bed next to his. He calmed down somewhat. There she was. The girl he'd found himself falling in love with in such a short time. Jackie Salvani. That wasn't her real name, but that was how Peter would always think of her.

After everything that had happened, Peter couldn't think of anyone else—besides himself, of course—who needed a bigger break from mutants and villains than Jackie. He'd heard about the chilling experiences she had with the mutant Triotrite, and a firsthand account of her battle with Phoenix. As Peter took long, steadying breaths, he remembered why he woke up so suddenly.

He'd had a terrifying dream about a madman who wanted to kill him. _Hunt me, more like_, Peter mused. He shook his head and got up for the bathroom. As his bed creaked, he winced as he saw Jackie stir.

"Wassamatter?" she mumbled into her pillow.

"Nothing, Jackie. Go back to sleep," he assured.

"Liar." Even in her sleep, she was perceptive. She sat up and looked at him, eyes half open. "What woke you up?" she asked, voice groggy from sleep. Her eyes closed as she succumbed to a large yawn.

"It was nothing." He stood up and entered the bathroom.

"I can tell you're not telling me the truth," he heard from outside. He turned on the tap and cupped his hands. When they were full of cold water, he splashed his face.

"I can find out the hard way," Jackie threatened as he walked out.

"The hard way?" Peter repeated in a disbelieving tone.

"Okay, it's actually the easy way. But it includes invading your privacy. I didn't want to do it unless necessary," she explained.

"I just had a nightmare," he shrugged.

"About what? Goblin?"

"Jackie, as close as you and I are, I seriously doubt we share nightmares," he jokingly shot.

Jackie made a face. "You try getting thrown off a building, see if you like it!"

"I probably wouldn't mind it at all."

"Oh yeah…forgot. You're Spider-Guy."

"Spider-Man," Peter corrected.

"Spider-Man…Spider-Guy…Eight-legged f-f-" She had to pause for a yawn. "Eight-Legged Freak…whatever. It's all the same."

"Eight-Legged Freak? I don't have eight legs."

"You might have come very close to having them…I can see it now, Spi Ock. Spider-Octopus." Jackie was thrown into a fit of giggles at her own joke. "Try hiding THOSE every day!"

In actuality, Peter didn't find 'Spider-Octopus' funny. He figured it was just Jackie's odd way of dealing with getting up. Most people were cranky in the morning. Some were unusually chipper. Jackie Salvani was just a bit weird.

(A/N: Welcome to the awaited sequel for Severing Ties! So glad you could make it. Be warned, this story moves a tiny bit faster, and the POV changes many times a chapter, and usually without warning. But life goes on. I want to thank all those who reviewed Severing Ties for the very last time.

**Oddball91:** It did take you a bit of time to finally read that last chapter, didn't it? Life goes on, in a very fast way! Things are fine between me n Nikki, now, so no worries. Note that the stories that end up here will _never_ be published in book form, unless Stan Lee reads this and steals my ideas, which he can't because I use villains he's already used and this is movie verse so it just won't work and I'll stop rambling now…;-) thanks bunches for the review, and I hope you enjoy the sequel! Yay! Friends and sisters 4evr!

**Darth Zelda: **I'm thrilled you loved the story. Wait no longer! Here it as! In the summary, it says that cruelty reaches new heights so be prepared! Thank you for reviewing Severing Ties so many times throughout the months!

**Mary Jane Watson-Parker: **No! Don't die! I've already killed you once! Lol! Here's the sequel, and thanks for reviewing Severing Ties. You've been there since the beginning, and that's cool! :-D

**Bumblebee, Hickory Dickory, Winkerbean, 57one, and clickity (whom I suspect to be the same person): **I'm sorry you don't like Jackie, but, guess what, she's important to my story, and it's my story so I'm writing what I want. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you've stuck with the story even though you didn't like Jackie.


	2. Howling at the Moon

**Of Birds and Hunters  
**_The sequel to Severing Ties_

**Summary**: The rollar coaster of leaving home has finally come to a halt, and Peter Parker is left scarred and in emotional turmoil. A best friend he thinks he loves doesn't help, and new problems arise as tempers flare, cruelty reaches new heights, and a certain concept is proven wrong.

**Chapter 2:** Howling at the Moon

"Scott, look," Logan said roughly. "I know she's a real looker, but come on! Staying in there when you've got no other responsibilities? Isn't that a bit on the obsessed side?"

Scott's face was in an ugly look for a split second. Then he exploded. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE GONE THROUGH? WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH? NO! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS POKING AT ME AND MAKING ME ANNOYED WHEN IT'S OBVIOUS I'M IN NO MOOD TO WRANGLE WITH YOUR ANTICS!"

A very select few had ever seen Scott Summers yell. They didn't want a repeat performance. Logan backed off, noticing that now wasn't the greatest time.

"He's a bit touchy about all this, isn't he?" a female voice asked from behind Logan. He spun around, claws extracted, just to see Felicia.

"Don't ever," he paused and put a claw to Felicia's pale, delicate throat, "_ever_ startle me."

"Or you'll what? Forget that I'm one of you? What is it with you people?" she asked suddenly. "Every single time I approach one of your kind, you always feel like you need to attack me!" she remarked loudly. "It's not cool! Just because I don't have some damn X-gene thing doesn't mean that I can't be trusted!"

Feeling like he was the cause of everyone's shouting, Logan backed out of the room, and out of sight.

_These people!_ Felicia thought angrily. _They all think I'm not like them 'cause I'm not a _mutant_. Well screw them…_ She furiously left for the library. She'd rather drown her sorrows with playing basketball than reading, but it was raining, and she _hated_ the rain. She picked a random book and started perusing.

* * *

"What are we doing here, again?" Jackie asked Peter. They were in Washington D.C., looking at the monuments. 

"Learning about America's history," he responded, a look of awe on his face.

"I hate history." Jackie's eyes wondered around. The only thing she was doing was trying to get her mind off of the frozen bird-woman in the X-Men's headquarters.

The two wandered around for the rest of the day. As night closed in, Peter took Jackie stargazing off the top of the tallest building in D.C. They lay there, watching stars and clouds go by.

"The moon's full," Peter remarked casually.

"Yeah…you should be able to hear Logan howl any minute, now," Jackie joked. They laughed and then silence reigned. A few minutes passed and tension grew slightly. "I had a good time, today, Pete," Jackie admitted.

"I thought you hated history?"

"I'd put up with it if it meant that I could spend time with you." She meant every word. Her heart leapt as Peter held her hand. He was so sweet.

"I can't help thinking this is slighting MJ." His voice was laced with guilt. "I want to move on, but I still love her…"

"And she still loves you, too," Jackie comforted. "I'm sure she wants you to move on. You'll see her, again. And when you do, she won't care if you dated me or if you married. She'll be glad to see you."

Peter took a deep breath. "I guess. It still hurts. If I had stayed with her, she would still be alive—"

"No, she wouldn't. The only thing you would have done if you hadn't left was prolong her life for a little while. The people who were doing this to you would have killed her sooner or later. So you made it sooner."

Seeing the sense of this, Peter shook his head as grief came over him, again. He wanted to cry, but not in front of Jackie. She noticed his emotions. He wore them right on his sleeve. She leaned over and embraced Peter.

"I'm sure you miss her terribly. I'm sorry I didn't get to become her friend," she whispered in his ear.

"Thank you."

"I didn't do anything," Jackie denied. She felt Peter hold onto her tighter. Her heart was beating quicker.

"Yes, you did. You're here for me." He pulled back to look into her eyes. "And it means the world to me."

Arms still around each other, they kissed. It was slow and lingering. Grief tainted it, but the comfort more than made up for it. They broke apart and hugged once more.

"I think I'm in love with you, Jackie," he confessed.

"I think I'm in love with you, too, Pete."

* * *

Aloysha, nicknamed Kraven the Hunter by the last witch-doctor he visited, was in New York, again. It was very different from the jungles of South America, but he realized that it was just a different kind of jungle. He, at first, had tried to catch the web-slinger's attention by getting into trouble; making muggers try to hit him up, that kind of thing. Instead of getting Spider-Man, he got two girls. Snorting, he walked away from 'trouble' unscathed. Then he knew what he could do to get his attention. He could rob a bank. 

All things considering, it was actually quite easy. The bank tellers only had to look at his menacing attire, made of the skins of tigers and cheetahs, and then they handed over cases of cash. Growling in contempt, and noticing that the webhead was nowhere to be found, he walked to the bank's door, and threw the cash back. He shook his head, snarled to himself, and went to look somewhere else.

* * *

A woman woke up from what felt like a ten year sleep. She couldn't move, but she was conscious. She felt encased. Panicking, an odd power coursed through her arms and she let out a trill as she exploded out of her shell. Falling to her knees, she looked at herself for the first time in months. '_How did I get here?_' Confusion abounded as memories of being drowned flooded her mind. Jean Grey couldn't understand why she was alive when she remembered dying. Knowing she wasn't supposed to be walking around, breathing, panic set back in. She desperately didn't want to be in the large building that was unfamiliar to her. It didn't help when she suddenly became engulfed in flames and was transported somewhere else.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Here's chapter 2!!!! Chapter 3 won't be as fast in coming, so be warned! ;-) 

**Mary Jane Watson-Parker**: Wow. Did I make you so happy that you couldn't type right? I feel special!! Thanks bunches! Hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the last one! :-D

**Hazelle**: Hi, and thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you're lovin it! I think I do understand. You like her, but not the role she plays in the story. AHH!!! SOMEONE CAUGHT IT!!! WOO HOO I feel so awesome now! You caught the humor of that statement! Yeah! Go you! Have a virtual cookie!

**Oddball91**: No, she's just a bit weird. She's not chipper or crabby, she's got a strange thought pattern. Most Dangerous Game, right? Yeah my class juts reread that the week before last. He reminded me of Zaroff too, but just remember that I didn't make him! Someone else did, and then I used my artistic license to make him into the crazy hallucinating madman he is here. Thanks for reviewing!!!!!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!! I'D LOVE YOU FOREVER!!! (okay, not really, but you get a nice reply down here if u do! I promise! :-D )


	3. Punishments

**Of Birds and Hunters**

_The sequel to Severing Ties_

**Summary**: The rollar coaster of leaving home has finally come to a halt, and Peter Parker is left scarred and in emotional turmoil. A best friend he thinks he loves doesn't help, and new problems arise as tempers flare, cruelty reaches new heights, and a certain concept is proven wrong.

**Chapter 3:** Punishments

The moonlight quietly streamed into the hotel room. It was the last night Peter and Jackie were going to spend in DC, and they were sleeping peacefully. No nightmares haunted either of them, and the silent rhythm of breathing never hitched. Until Peter's X-phone rang.

Groaning, Peter sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He made a grab for his phone. "Peter P-p-p-parker," he said, stifling a yawn.

"Phoenix has escaped." It was an unfamiliar voice.

"Who is this?" Peter asked.

"I'm a student at Xavier's school. The name's Nikki. I was told to contact you and inform you of Phoenix. They want you to go to New York to watch for her," the voice explained.

"Right now?"

"Right now."

"Thanks…I guess," Peter said slowly.

"Bye."

Peter said his goodbyes and hung up. He wondered why he'd never met this 'Nikki' before. He looked at the time. 1:30 in the morning. He shook his head and tried to decide whether or not he should wake Jackie. Before he could, however, he heard a grumble. Jackie turned towards him.

"Must you always be the reason I wake?" she asked in a mockingly scornful tone. Her eyes softened as she watched Peter. She got out of the bed. "But then again," she started, "If you weren't my reason for waking, there'd be no reason at all." She smiled as she hugged him. "Good morning."

"If you could call it morning. I just got a call from the X-Men. We have to head to New York to watch for Phoenix," Peter explained.

"You mean she got out?" Worry was evident on Jackie's face.

"Afraid so."

* * *

"We have to bring her back!" Scott yelled. Almost all of the X-Men were in the large room with the circular table. 

"And then what?" Dr. McCoy asked. "How do we contain her? She's dangerous."

"It clearly took too much out of Jack to create that crystal cell. We can't endanger her like that, again," Xavier reminded.

"Do you think drowning her, again, might work?" Ororo inquired.

"We can't do that. She's living, now," Scott replied.

"You don't know that," Logan growled. "She isn't Jean, Scott. She's Phoenix, using Jean's dead body."

"You don't know that, either!"

"Scott," Xavier cut off. "If you can not think rationally, you will be excluded in this mission."

Fury bubbled. "How dare you?" It was said softly. "Forget this! I don't need to be constantly reminded that I can't handle these situations! I'm leaving!" He shot up out of his seat and left the room. No one got up to follow him, and no one knew where he was headed.

* * *

Candace 'Triotrite' Johnson was not used to worrying. Her confidence in herself and her colleagues had always kept her cocky and calm. Since her folly with Jackie Salvani, who, she realized, was the legendary Virginia 'Jack-of-All-Trades' Salvani, Candace was supremely shaken to the core. Mistakes weren't common for her. She wouldn't know the definition of mistake if she didn't know the entire Unabridged Webster's Dictionary by heart. 

It certainly didn't help that her surrogate mother, Hallie, didn't tolerate blunders.

"What on earth were you thinking, child?" Hallie screeched at Candace.

"We were in each other's confidences, Hal," she whimpered. She tried to close her eyes as she felt her intelligence leaving her as a result of one of Hallie's tricks. Though she knew it was only a hallucination, it felt so real.

"Obviously you weren't in her confidence if you didn't realize who she was, Triotrite. You could have sabotaged the entire plan with your insolence!"

"I didn't mean to!" Candace noticed that she sounded ten, and then knew that she couldn't remember anything about quantum physics, or the formula for making the X-gene dormant. "Make me smart, again!" she cried.

"Not until you've learned your lesson," Hal threatened in a deadly tone.

"Hal, leave her alone. Any one of us could have made that error." Arch Angel joined the conversation. He was muscular and handsome. His intense brown eyes had laugh lines. Dark blonde hair was a little bit longer than normal, and it hung behind his ears.

"She needs to know, Michael. She needs to understand the full extent of what she could have caused."

In that instant, Candace saw it. She saw Jackie go to Xavier and tell him about Phoenix. Then Candace felt her head explode.

"Stop! Don't make her see pain!" Michael yelled.

"She needs to know what might have happened!" Hallie was determined. An unearthly shriek was heard from Candace.

"What's going on?" a girl asked. She walked in to see Candace writhing on the floor, and Michael and Hal in each other's faces.

"Get out of the room, Clear," Hallie warned. "Candace is being punished."

"What did she do?" Clear asked innocently. She was twelve years old with short, light blue hair. Her eyes were the color of glass.

"That is none of your business. Leave the room this instant, Clear, before you're punished the same way."

Clear, in her child's mind, understood punishment, and left immediately to find Fox, her only friend in the shack of a house. Fox was a nine year old boy with bright red hair and yellow eyes.

"Is Candace all right?" he asked when Clear found him.

"I don't know. Aunt Hallie wouldn't tell me. I'm frightened, Fox. Candace was making weird noises. Like she was hurt."

"She'll be fine. Remember Wall after the first time he was punished? He was quiet for a few days but then he started talking, again," Fox reminded.

Clear nodded. Though she was older than Fox, it was hard to tell who was really the elder. Clear looked and acted younger, and Fox was wise for a nine year old. His golden eyes seemed to posses the world in an eerie way.

"What's going on?" a new voice emerged. It was Wall. Wall was an old man who looked like he was made of bricks. He was as solid as a 'wall' of bricks, as well.

"Candace is being punished." Fox explained.

"For the girl she brought to the resurrection?" he asked.

"We think so," Clear replied.

Wall's breath hitched. He knew Candace would not get off easy. He quickly went to go stop Hallie before she got carried away and killed Candace.

* * *

(A/N: Chap three! I thought my internet had been shut down by SBC, and then I clicked on repair center and what happened? It started working again!!!! So, to celebrate, I'm posting this chapter up!!!! YAY!!!! 

**Mary Jane Watson-Parker: **What's yur sn? Here's more. Thanks for reviewing!!!! Notice anyone familiar, yet? -wiggles eyebrows suggestively-

**Hazelle: **Where'd the mcdonald's thing come from??? I speak gibberish, and can understand it fairly well, so whatever you think is confusing, chances are that I'll understand it! See I use ideas from the comic books to build up my own universe cuz this is movie-verse instead of comic-verse, so I needed villains. I'm thinking of adding another but I'm not sure…Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :-D)


	4. Buried Alive

**Of Birds and Hunters  
**_The sequel to Severing Ties_

**Summary**: The rollar coaster of leaving home has finally come to a halt, and Peter Parker is left scarred and in emotional turmoil. A best friend he thinks he loves doesn't help, and new problems arise as tempers flare, cruelty reaches new heights, and a certain concept is proven wrong.

**Chapter 4:** Buried Alive

Peter and Jackie had been in New York a week, and no sign of Phoenix had arisen. In the meantime, the duo chose to help the city out and stop petty crime.

"Do you think Annie and Nightingale mind if we help them along?" Peter asked.

"Nightingale?" Jackie didn't know who Nightingale was for a minute. She thought about it and thought about it. Finally it dawned on her. "You mean Karen. Okay. No, I don't think they mind at all. They were, after all, the only ones protecting this city."

"You remember what they told us the first day? About the man who robbed a bank, and then threw the money back?" Peter recalled.

"Yeah. That was weird. Any ideas?"

"That's why I was asking you…"

A piercing scream was heard across the street.

* * *

"Give me all your money!" Kraven growled to the Convenience Store clerk.

She violently nodded as she frantically opened the cash register.

"Back off, Jungle Man!" a voice yelled. Kraven got a well placed kick in the chops. When he looked, he saw a blur of red and blue.

"Finally," he snarled. He whipped out a needle and hit Spider-Man in the forearm as he went to punch him. He pressed down, and the tranquilizer started working immediately.

"SPIDER-MAN!" another voice yelled. It was a girl, this time, and she was dressed in all black. She moved in and tried to hit Kraven.

"Get away from me, little lady," he said with a deliberate accent. "This has nothing to do with you."

"LET HIM GO!" She was crazy, trying to hit him with every ounce of strength she had. Kraven could see that she was getting tired, and that she wasn't thinking, just randomly kicking and punching. He shook his head and took out his spare tranquilizer. He was saving it in case Spider-Man woke up before Kraven was done with him, but obviously this woman would not leave him alone.

"I do not want to do this," he warned.

"Fuck you!" The girl actually kicked him in the groin.

_Good thing I took that pain-repellant elixir before I did this_, Kraven thought as he jabbed the needle into the girl's neck. She went limp instantly and sank to the ground.

* * *

Jackie remembered a man in fur and leather robbing a store. She recalled Peter getting the first hit. Then she saw him get injected with something. After that, the details became a bit blurred. Now she was lying in the middle of a convenience store with a pounding headache and a sore neck. She stood up, and noticed that she couldn't keep her balance.

"Thank you for trying to help me, Jack-of-All-Trades," the clerk said with a smile.

"Any time. Just…" She almost fainted, but grabbed on to the counter. Her head spun something dreadful. She waited a few minutes, and then took a deep breath. "Did you see where that guy took Spider-Man?" she asked softly.

The clerk just shook her head sadly.

"Thanks anyway." Jackie disappeared, and collapsed in her house in Iceberg, the only place she could recover without worrying about time.

* * *

A swirling consciousness came back to Peter. He had no idea where he was. He opened his eyes to find it completely dark. He felt squished in on all sides. He tried to move his arms to find himself trapped. An absurd notion came to him as he tried to feel around where he was. He was buried alive!

An insane panic overtook him. Frantically, he tried to move his hands, to try to dig himself out. It was then he noticed that the dirt wasn't packed very tight. He was soon able to dig up. His breath was running short. He had to get out of there, and he had to do it fast, or else he'd suffocate.

Minutes later, fingers grubby and bloody, Peter thought he saw a quick glimpse of starlight. He didn't dare believe he was so close. He'd never had claustrophobia, especially after the spider-bite, so he didn't understand the spinning sensation his head was subject to while closed in by earth. Trying to clear his mind, he set it back to the task at hand.

* * *

The next morning, Jackie woke up, and felt whole, again. She looked around her room and rubbed her eyes. It was then she remembered Peter. She mentally searched for him quickly. When she found him, she teleported to his location.

Arriving in the middle of a dense forest, she knelt down and pressed softly on a patch of ground. Feeling its giving nature, she started digging.

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't get out of his own grave fast enough. He was on the brink of unconsciousness, and he knew he was going to die. He didn't even know why that crazy jungle man wanted to kill him. Drifting away seemed the most painless answer. Just as he resolved to close his eyes for the last time, he was blinded by light.

"PETER!" It was a shrill shriek, and Peter had the reflex to cover his ears. He found he could breathe.

* * *

A/N: IT'S A CLIFFHANGER!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry about that…

**Mary-Jane Watson Parker**: -wink- I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

**Darth Zelda:** Go ahead and feel sorry for her. I did, too, before I realized that Candace is just as cold and calculating. -sigh- I don't think physical pain is ever necessary. Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like this chapter.

**Oddball91:** Hey hey hey. Sorry I talked so much during the concert. I just missed you guys so much and there was so much to tell! I've got her new music…some of it, anyway. Yes, -is ashamed- I downloaded it. But I will buy the CD when it comes out, so it isn't technically stealing. Right? Thanks for reviewing. Hope you like this chapter, and sorry for the cliffie. Ttys

**Hazelle**: They all came from my own head. Scary, isn't it? I'm sorry. It was meant to introduce those characters to you so that you did understand… -sweatdrops- Thanks for reviewing. Here's more!


	5. Hallucinations and Revelations

**Of Birds and Hunters**

_The sequel to Severing Ties_

**Summary**: The rollar coaster of leaving home has finally come to a halt, and Peter Parker is left scarred and in emotional turmoil. A best friend he thinks he loves doesn't help, and new problems arise as tempers flare, cruelty reaches new heights, and a certain concept is proven wrong.

**Chapter 5:** Hallucinations and Revelations

Jean Grey took a look at the house the flames had taken her to. She was able to think rationally, and figured out that the blaze was a teleportation mechanism. Not knowing why she was doing things she didn't tell herself to, she sat down and tried to think her predicament. She had different powers, she knew, but her personality and beliefs seemed to be the same.

She examined herself in the mirror. Her hair was much longer, due to being uncared for for so long. Her eyes were still dark; face still the same shape. What had happened to her to bring her back to life?

* * *

Wall had been talking to Arch Angel about Hallie's behavior. Neither approved, but they didn't have the power to stand up to her. Her abilities were great; that was why they had elected her the leader of their band of outcasts. 

"Do you really think this mutant plan is worth it?" Arch Angel inquired.

Wall shook his head slowly. "Causing people pain is never worth it. But you know Hallie and Triotrite. When the both of them have the same opinion, there's no stopping them."

"We can't just erase what they've done to us, Wall. I mean, they practically said we weren't people. It's not fair or just how they treat us."

"And you think that's grounds for massacring the lot of them?" Wall snapped.

"Maybe then they'll realize that the human race is nothing but a folly."

"Foolish boy!" Wall bit. "Can you think of nothing outside your own righteousness? Look at yourself. You're an accomplice to murder, several of them in fact, and all you can say is that 'oh well, maybe if we kill a few more, mankind will see that they are all doomed'?"

"Don't let Hallie hear you talk that way," Arch Angel warned.

"Or what?" Wall asked slowly.

"Or you'll meet the higher power you were working for before your mutation kicked in." The tall, thin, strict-looking woman that was Hallie entered the room. She had a poker in her hand. "I will not tolerate disobedience, or even the uttering of it," she growled.

Arch Angel, sensing what was about to happen, took out his own sword, and stepped in front of Wall. "He has done nothing wrong." His vision swirled, and he couldn't figure out that he was watching a hallucination.

"I'm not going to hurt him," Hallie said to him. The poker was gone. Her hands were wide open, empty and extended. "Michael, these people have wronged us. We must avenge ourselves, for those after us. For Fox and Clear, so that they may live productive, healthy lives."

He wanted to believe that Hallie was really saying this. He nodded, and put his sword away. In that instant he was shoved to the left and knocked unconscious, and he never saw Wall again.

* * *

Peter was never happier to see daylight and breathe fresh air. He had dirt in places he didn't know he had, and his costume was so dirty that when he tried to move, he could feel the soil crinkling, like armor made of mud. He was breathing heavily and sitting on the ground, with Jackie kneeling beside him, inspecting any cuts or bruises he had. 

"You have any idea why that madman tried to kill me?" Peter asked.

Jackie shook her head. "I've asked around, though. It seems his name is Kraven the Hunter and he's famous around the world for his, you guessed it, hunting."

"Why would he be after me, though?" Peter asked himself. "What I wouldn't give for a shower, right now," he commented.

Jackie gave him a small smile. "I'll take you back to my place. Come on," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I bet you say that to all the guys," Peter joked lightly. The two of them vanished from the forest.

* * *

A/N: Hmmm…I wonder if this was a good idea. I haven't written anything more for this story, but you guys might as well get this instead of me hording it. :-p What have I been doing that I'm not writing? Well, I'm writing, but I've been working on my original stories. Sorry, but fan fiction won't ever pay the bills. (as if I had bills to pay! :-D) My original stories just might, one day. :-) I hope! Read and review!!!! PLEASE! 

I want to thank **Angie King** for reviewing last chapter. :-D Here's more, Angie!


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